Joyo.com looks for foreign partners
( 2002-01-28 10:56 ) (1 )

Joyo.com, China's largest online audio and video (A&V) retailer, has been talking with foreign companies about joint operations, and a deal may be reached this year.

"It is quite likely that we will make some announcement on that this year," said Diane Wang, chief executive of joyo.com.

She refused to name the potential partners but said the most likely candidates would be those that specialize in sales and have weak online operations.

"When foreign distributors come to China, they first seek help from online partners to shorten their time and save money building their own network," Wang said.

She said her company has more than 2 million registered users and a distribution network in two provinces and seven cites.

She also said joyo.com experienced a growth in revenue of 450 per cent last year compared with the previous year, but she would not release specific figures.

The business-to-customer (B2C) firm opened in May 2000 and gained revenues of US$1 million in the fourth quarter of 2000.

Wang also said her company would seek an initial public offering (IPO) this year and that an overseas listing might be a more likely choice than domestic markets.

"We have been preparing for the IPO, and it won't take too long for us to meet the listing qualifications," Wang said.

Although joyo.com claimed it broke even for September 2001, it will take one or two more years for it to recover all of its investments, Wang said.

Wang Liuyi, an expert in the A&V industry, said that threats of piracy and lack of knowledge about the Chinese market and propensities of Chinese customers would be two headaches for foreign companies. Alliances with big local businesses would therefore be a good choice for them.

It is believed that online retail and chain stores will effectively curb piracy.

"Those privately owned big A&V distributors will be very attractive to international giants," he said, referring to the choice by foreign distributors.

Zheng Weiguang, head of cnave.com, also said domestic A&V B2C firms should take advantage of their established position in the market and strengthen themselves through exchanges and co-operation with foreign competitors.